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Solar collectors are becoming rapidly more popular due to their high efficiency, low ongoing costs and environmental credentials. It’s important that this popularity isn’t compromised by poorly designed equipment.

Designing to the most recent version of BS EN 12975-1 can ensure your products live up to high expectations.

BS EN 12975-1 is a European Standard which specifies requirements on durability (including mechanical strength), reliability and safety for liquid heating solar collectors. It also includes provisions for evaluation of conformity to these requirements.

It is not applicable to those collectors in which the thermal storage unit is an integral part of the collector to such an extent, that the collection process cannot be separated from the storage process for the purpose of making measurements of these two processes. It is basically applicable to concentrating collectors; thermal performance testing as given in BS EN 12975-2:2006, 6.3. (quasi dynamic testing) is also applicable to most concentrating collector designs, from stationary non-imaging concentrators as CPCs to high concentrating tracking designs.

Collectors that are custom-built (built in, roof integrated collectors that do not comprise factory made modules and are assembled directly on the place of installation) cannot be tested in their actual form for durability, reliability and thermal performance according to this standard. Instead, a module with the same structure as the ready collector is tested. The module gross area in the case of custom built collectors should be at least 2 m2. The test is valid only for larger collectors, than the tested module.

For collectors the national and European Guidelines for Structural Planning and overhead glazing are not valid.

Therefore this standard should be applied for the design of the static of the collector.